Understanding Roulette Odds

Understanding roulette odds is helpful when deciding how to place your bets when playing roulette. The roulette odds differ between the European and American versions of roulette.

Odds - Definition

The chance or likelihood of something happening as opposed to something not happening. The probability of a specific outcome happening.

Understanding Roulette Odds

In order to understand roulette odds, it is necessary to know the various bets that are able to be placed and to have a basic knowledge of what the roulette table looks like.

Inside Bets:  This is a bet made on either one number being picked as a winner, or a combination of winning numbers which are located next to each other on the roulette table layout.

Outside Bets:  These are the bets that are placed in any of the boxes that are around the numbers.  These bets are not placed on specific numbers, but on rows or groups of numbers or colors and on either odds or evens.

The odds are often expressed as a ratio, for example a 2:1 (two to one) chance of something happening.

European versus American Roulette Odds

The roulette odds in European roulette are better than the American version as the European version has a single zero only, as opposed to the American zero (0) and double zero (00) pocket.

Roulette Odds in an European (Single Zero) Game

A straight up bet (a bet placed on any single number) has odds of 36:1.
A split bet (placed on two numbers next to each other) has odds of 17.5:1.
A trio bet (placed on three numbers in an horizontal row) has odds of 11.33:1.
A corner bet (placed on four numbers together) has odds of 8.25:1.
A line bet (placed on six numbers in a row) has odds of 5.17:1.
A column bet (placed on twelve numbers in the same column) has odds of 2.08:1.
A dozen bet (placed on groups of twelve consecutive numbers) has odds of 2.08:1.
A low/high bet (placed on half the numbers in numerical order) has odds of 1.01:1.
A red/black bet (placed on either a red or a black) has odds of 1.01:1.
An odd/even bet (placed on either odds numbers or even numbers winning) has odds of 1.01:1.

Roulette Odds in an American (Single and Double Zero) Game

A straight up bet (a bet placed on any single number) has odds of 37:1.
A split bet (placed on two numbers next to each other) has odds of 18:1.
A trio bet (placed on three numbers in an horizontal row) has odds of 11.67:1.
A corner bet (placed on four numbers together) has odds of 8.5:1.
NOTE:  The five bet does not exist in the European version of roulette as it includes both the 0 and the 00.
A five bet (placed on the following 5 numbers: 1, 2, 3, 0, 00) has odds of 6.66:1.
A line bet (placed on six numbers in a row) has odds of 5.33:1.
A column bet (placed on twelve numbers in the same column) has odds of 2.17:1.
A dozen bet (placed on groups of twelve consecutive numbers) has odds of 2.17:1.
A low/high bet (placed on half the numbers in numerical order) has odds of 1.05:1.
A red/black bet (placed on either a red or a black) has odds of 1.05:1.
An odd/even bet (placed on either odds numbers or even numbers winning) has odds of 1.05:1.